16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Juicy!, January 27, 2008
This review is from: Mermaids in the Basement (Hardcover)
I gave this book a five star rating because I could never find a good "stopping place". You know how you tell yourself that you'll put the book up at the end of the chapter? Well, I couldn't help myself; I just had to keep reading. It has elements of romance, drama, and suspense along with a few laughs. I highly recommend it. :0)
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Southern Comfort, February 10, 2008
This review is from: Mermaids in the Basement (Hardcover)
Michael Lee West lives on a farm near Lebanon, Tennessee, surrounded by her husband and a large variety of animals, both farm and domestic. This hardly qualifies her to write sophisticated, comic romances set in surprising locales. But she's done just that in novels like "Crazy Ladies" and "Mad Girls in Love."
Now, she has surpassed herself with "Mermaids in the Basement," the story of a woman who has to go home to comfront all the ghosts of her past. What she discovers, however, is a very-current mystery and an old trunk that turns out to be sort of a Pandora's Box...it releases even more mysteries of her past.
All this is written in a wonderfully witty style. How can you resist a book that opens: "If I had not read the cover story in the March 2, 2000, National Inquirer, it's doubtful that I would have gone to Alabama and ruined my daddy's engagement party, much less sent the bride-to-be into a coma."
West is a very Southern writer. Her swift prose paints authentic portraits of people, places, and things Southern. You'll swear you can smell the magnolias. But there is no Southern Gothic here, despite the unpleasant events at the heart of this book. This is a romantic South peopled by ladies and gentlemen you wish were real.
West's prose is simple, and her style seems to be simple as well. That's deceptive. While her work is witty and romantic and very easy to read, there are all sorts of things going on under the surface.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
True Southern Hospitality!!!!, February 13, 2008
This review is from: Mermaids in the Basement (Hardcover)
From Chapter 1 when you first meet Renata DeChavannes you will not want to put this one down. You become quickly drawn into her life, her feelings and emotions.
As she begins to face her past, going home to the South, you are caught up in each chapter. Each character will inspire empathy and possess charming attributes. I would be surprised if you don't find a common trait with each one you encounter.
This story has many layers and as I unfolded each one I found the story to be intriguing, charming, and amusing.
This was my first read of Michael Lee West. I found it to be an excellent read, full of surprises and hard to put down. I look forward to the next one.
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